Oh well, Menno, swings and roundabouts...although I'm sure the individuals concerned wouldn't agree with that:
Marathon swimming
"Netherlands Ferry Weertman is indeed the champion with Greece's Spiros Gianniotis in silver-medal position and Marc-Antoine Olivier, of France, third.
Plenty of confusion after a dramatic and close finish. Gianniotis was initially given the win before officials withdrew that as they studied the photo finish.
After a courageous swim, Jack Burrell of Great Britain has been disqualified, presumably for being a little too physical in the finish funnel."
Sadly I didn't see this one. Took a car to the tyre fitters for proper balancing of the wire wheels. Started talking with a guy who brought in a Ferrari and forgot the time... I got a WhatsApp from my son telling me about Ferry's success.
Around 6PM (our time), the Laser Radials will be on the water -hopefully- for the medal race. And hopefully another gold medal.
Menno
They do...just ask Callum Skinner (Relegated in men's keirin) and also Jack Burnell (marathon swimming)...link now has video where he is quite outspoken:Originally Posted by Dazzler
"The one thing that ruins the competition is the referees," said Burnell, 23.
"There are about 600 boats out there that are not needed and every person on the boat has no idea what they are doing, giving out cards left, right and centre for nothing."
Quote now not in article but on video
Edit: Apparently there's "nothing worse than a knee-tremble": BBCLink...poor chap.
Last edited by PickleB; 16th August 2016 at 16:38. Reason: terminology, then update on Jack Burnell article
There are so many camera angles and judges, and the rules for cycling can be complex - so if Cav had done something worthy of disqualification etc then I'm sure there would have been protests galore etc.
Although he's a bit of a difficult and spiky character, Cavendish is one of my favourite sportsmen - he's true to himself, isn't some kind of media trained boreathon and he's also the ultimate team man. Eg when the Isle of Man were competing at the Commonwealth Games in India when he wasn't competing he drove the team minibus around just to help out. Remember when he and Bradley Wiggins were at Sky and they decided to completely ignore the sprints to concentrate totally on the GC? Well it was Cavendish who was dropping back to the team car on mountain stages, collecting water for the team, even though he was a superstar rider and had good reason to get in a huff. I think there's lots to admire.
I don't know the rules of the sport, BUT:
...on the one hand Cavendish definitely drove into the Korean deliberately and caused him to crash;
...on the other hand, the Korean was pushing his bike up higher on the track, crowding Cavendish, who was mostly in front of him. The Korean's actions could have been unintentional, as he may have been pushed up by another rider out of the picture.
The only reason MC may have played water carrier in the mountain is to get a tow as he struggles to finish in the groupetto. He is a great sprinter, possibly the best there has been on the tour but that is really the end of his talent. Which in itself is quite a feat, but he doesn't have a great name in the peloton because of this.
His reputation in terms of sportsmanship is not very good either.
He still gets the wins and podiums though.
ICYMI
USA 558 athletes
Germany 429 athletes
France 406 athletes
China 403 athletes
Team GB 373 athletes
Italy 312 athletes
Russia 293 athletes
Fas est ab hoste doceri
It goes back to the madison in 2008 where Cavs blames Wiggo for a bad change costing them a medal
Fantasic bronze for Amy Tinkler in the Women's Floor final. Coming third to Biles and Raisman = Gold amongst the mortals. And won it convincingly, clearly better than the 4th etc
Jeez the money we put into sport has been worth it when you compare that man u spent £100 million on one player
Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk
The manager of Ajax Amsterdam has ordered his players to watch the Olympics: the volleyball teams, the hockey teams and handball teams. The manager told Dutch newspapers that the teams' fighting spirit should be an example for the well-paid soccer professionals...
Menno
I believe it's working out in the region of £5m per medal currently, based on the investment made during this cycle.
I don't know about team spirit, but I do feel that as individuals they might take a look at the effort expended by other professionals and their opponents, eg Andy Murray:
or
The latter set him up for another match two days later and a final two days after that. They might be glad they're playing 45 mins each way with the potential for a substitute to come on if they're too tired.
Not that I have ever been able to match any of them...
Guess who now has four of her own?
Laura Trott - simply phenomenal
2 utterly horrific judging decisions in the boxing in less than 24 hours (with Russian fighters benefitting from each)
Makes this look most prescient
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...P=share_btn_tw
My nerves are shot... 2nd overlap in the keirin...
Men's keirin final start...more bangs for your buck?
Edit: Is anyone else keeping an eye on Jack Laugher in the diving? Still one round to go, but were we expecting this?
Last edited by PickleB; 16th August 2016 at 23:07.
Bloody hell that was tense. Well done Kenny.
Result! After a bit of a shambles.
Well worth the wait!
Woohoo! Go Kenny! Awesome race.
Bloody joke though about the overlaps, how can the judges stop a race yet not have the equipment set up to verify who to penalise?
FTFmyself...
Not what I was expecting after the prelims and semi-final. Well done to both Jason and Jack.
Last edited by PickleB; 16th August 2016 at 23:33.
He's got at least 1 more olympics if not 2. Could end up with 8 to 10 golds.
As we never really one much, when we did get a couple of golds you were a shoe in for a knighthood/dame hood - problem now is it seems loads of athletes are multiple gold medal winners in all sorts of sports.
Need to up the ante - Earl of Kenney and Countess Trott maybe
Can China still catch us in the medals table? We are two golds up on them but I don't know what events are left that China has gold medal propositions in. Or us for that matter.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/37085511
Fantastic night in the velodrome. Superb from Trott and Kenny, amazing how many watts Trott puts out for a relatively small girl, Kenny pretty much unbeatable. Well done to Becky James and Katy Marchant - silver and bronze -both undone by some great sprinting from Kristina Vogel.
But where do you stop... fantastic performances everywhere.
Go Mo!
First, Kenny did great. He really is the fastest of 'm all. Bόchli's silver was unexpected for us. But the referees in the Velodrome are bunch of idi*ts. Two nights in a row, they made a mistake/didn't act.
Menno
Aye you can't deny Kenny looked to be over the white line first - or is it Derny leaving the track that counts? (mighty lucky though). As Boardman says the Derny traditionally just speeds off out of the way in the last 50 so not usually a problem. Just not the same with that eco-electric bike - wheres a proper derny?
Presumably that will come down as the games progress and more medals are won?
Anyway that's 8p per person per medal, and I think that's a price that the majority of the British population are very comfortable with paying: we weren't at all happy at the ignominy of Atlanta twenty years ago, whereas now the succession of medals seems to be making the nation quite content.
I do feel a bit sorry for a sport such as basketball, which has a genuine social utility, but which gets no funding because they've no realistic prospect of winning a medal. Perhaps exceptions could be made to the funding formula without bringing what has been an effective policy crashing down?
Like this one, maybe?
What about Santiago Lange?
54 y/o from Argentina. Competing in the Olympics since 1988 - and has won several medals. Yesterday, he and his sailing partner Cecila Carranzza won Gold with the Nacra 17. (The Nacra 17 is a Dutch built multi hull boat and for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics the designated boat for mixed teams).
Santiago's father sailed the 1952 Olympics and his kids are sailing in Rio too: the 49FX. Lange was diagnosed with lung cancer back in 2014. One lung was removed and after treatment he found the way back to the top again.
I true hero in my book!
Menno
Last edited by thieuster; 17th August 2016 at 12:19.
Got to say - loving the Olympics (and the cycling in particular).
I think the referees/officials in the cycling are very much going for the spirit of the rules rather than the letter - which is fine by me (and, apparently, the riders - so that's a bonus).
Re: the Cavendish "incident" - it's been interesting to get the take of various groups - it mainly boils down to:
Road Cyclists - DISQUALIFY HIM!
Track Cyclists - Racing incident - happens all the time - no problems
Everyone else - OMFG that's dangerous, BTW how do you work out who has won?
Cheers,
Mark C
Laura Muir..
Should she have run for bronze or was the no guts no glory route the way to go ??
MJ In commentary tried saying it was a dumb whilst treading on egg shells around the tree amigos lol..
Its ok saying she is only 23, by the next Olympics she will be 27 you don't get that many bites at the cherry.
Laura Trott was born at 29 weeks with a collapsed lung. 12 years later she met Bradley Wiggins and when he hung his gold medal round her neck she decided she wanted her own one. 12 years later she has 4 and is now the most successful British female Olympian in history
Police in Brazil have arrested the head of the European Olympic Committees, Irishman Patrick Hickey, in Rio over illegal Olympic ticket sales; BBCLink:
...Mr Hickey, 71, is suspected of illegally passing on tickets for the Games to be sold on at extortionate prices, Brazilian media report.
Mr Hickey, said to be unwell after his arrest, has not yet commented publicly.
Police say the suspect, who also heads the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), tried to escape when they came for him...
Brilliant performances all round....Laura Trott was born at 29 weeks with a collapsed lung. 12 years later she met Bradley Wiggins and when he hung his gold medal round her neck she decided she wanted her own one. 12 years later she has 4 and is now the most successful British female Olympian in history
starts sniping with snide comment s from France,OZ and Germany questioning performance.....it's good we upset other nations now with success.... means we are doing well and they don't like it ....
I'm always sick of (mainly British) media portraying us as also fans and plucky losers..... it's been a fallacy anyway that they like to promote for some reason.....
(and while I have no interest in football at all I also hope the new manager shows the England team the Olympic events and perhaps tries to find out how it's done from team GB though I know ambition and heart can't really be taught...... at the least he should be talking to Eddie Jones and getting some advice)....but I digress.....
I heard on radio that every member of the track cycling team has at least one medal.....
and the Trott/Kenny household themselves are actually 13th in the medal table ahead of Spain!!
Last edited by lordloz; 17th August 2016 at 15:56.
Given the lack of bums on seats they should be giving them away tbh..
Green water , lack of fencing / padding on the bike races, Bent decisions on Boxing , above bent ticket sales, im not so sure this one will
be go down as one of the greats.
You can't buy carnival atmosphere...
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/bl...io-empty-seats
As I understand it the rules are they musn't pass the rear wheel of the Derny before it leaves the track, the white line was purely coincidental
and the problem was there wasnt a camera shot that showed exactly when the Derny left the track.
Not as bad as the 10Km swimming yesterday though, having to reach up and touch a board to finish, absolutely stupid and what went on before sounds more like our water polo games at school, grabbing peoples legs underwater etc and the reason they wear the swimsuits rather than trunks is probably nothing to do with aquadynamics its so that no one can pull them off
But overall I've really enjoyed watching and of course the success of the GB team has added to that. Looking forward to the womens hockey tonight
I am really hoping Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge can pull something out of the bag for Bronze in the Badminton this afternoon. I played tennis against Chris as a youngster who was as good at tennis as he is at Badminton. Plus it is nice to say I played against an Olympian!
I saw something saying only 12% of Paralympic tickets had sold. That's such a massive shame.
It's a good point.
The money is doled out to the sports with the greatest chances of medals.
It's prudent for the medal league and I like to see us do well however a lot of inner city kids will be into basketball and perhaps some help in that area may see some fruitfulness rather than the middle class sports of sailing/cycling in which we are no doubt excellent.
It's a difficult choice.
Cheers,
Neil.
Team UK rules the cycling events like we dominate the skating events at the Winter Olympics. And that's great. For a few years, that's fine. But at a certain point, one hopes that there will be an outsider who will 'change the game'. It makes it more exciting to watch.
Olympic skating ovals can be found in (nearly) every large town in the Netherlands. Lack of winters with enough cold (freezing) days turned everybody inside. And, it's a sport which doesn't need a high investment to learn/participate. Although, skating can be very expensive: skaters have to pay rent for the skating ovals... and keeping the oval frozen, costs a lot of money and energy...
Cycling is like that. Easy to learn, expensive at a certain level (and higher up). It's easier to invest in sports like basketball, football, rugby, boxing etc. A lot cheaper and it's character-building: being part of a team, respectful attitude towards the opponent etc.
About 10 yrs ago, the Dutch Olympic Committee asked schools (kids 12 - 18 y/o) to help talented young people. Through the country, 20 or so schools have a special program for talented pupils. My son attends one of these schools. In his class: volleyball talents (M/F), soccer talents (M/F), BMX talents, field hockey talents (especially F). And there are more classes like his. They follow the normal school program, but we can ask for an extra day off for sailing training, regattas etc. And they don't have to follow the school's Phy.E. program. My son has to follow all other lessons, despite a day off. So when he had a day off, he needs to go to school on -let's say- a Bank Holiday. Like he had to do around Easter. During regattas, the trainers know what their pupils have to study and after dinner, everybody has to pick up his school books for a few hours.
Society should be more aware about that sort of things. We're now watching the Olympics, but we need to emphasize on all sorts of extraordinary skills: maths, chemistry, robotica, literature etc. Special classes for those who need more challenges and 'difficult stuff'. Thαt will make a country great.
An anecdote: a few years back, when I was a teacher, I had this 15 y/o boy with Asperger in my class. Quiet, not-so-fast, with hardly any friends, but a very friendly boy. One day, in winter, he went home after school. He passed a canal and observed a lady who had fallen into the canal. He dropped his bike mid-way across the road, took nearly all his clothes off, dropped them on the road in a straight line and jumped in the canal, saving this drowning lady. He later explained that he'd dropped all his stuff across on the middle of the road on purpose. He was there alone. A passing car or other cyclist would have noticed this weird arrangement of stuff and would have stepped out for an investigation. Like 'bread crumbs towards the canal'.
He received the Carnegie Medal for his heroic action.
This kid stepped up to the occasion and acted brilliantly. After finishing school, he went to the National school for fire fighters. This kid now is a fire brigade commander. And I am glad he works in my town!
Menno
Come on the Brownlees
I'd rather we just cheered them!
Brownlees one and two, good distance back to third placed triathlete. Could they cross the line together to get us two golds?
I suppose that depends upon the Omega timing equipment. Given that they deal with sprinters, cyclists etc, IMO it would be difficult to achieve other than by chance.
Might Alistair let Jonathan take the gold this time round?
Edit: Apparently not...Alistair has just gapped his brother.
Last edited by PickleB; 18th August 2016 at 16:34.
Commentators? Is it in their job description to rabbit on incessantly with totally unnecessary drivel? I can see that the Brownlees are in the lead group. I would be happy just to watch the action. It's not piggin' radio! Cue the mute button. Again!
LOL - very drool
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
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